Hammers News

Adama Traore is far from the only winger who can credit West Ham United boss Nuno Espirito Santo for bringing out the very best in him on the Premier League stage.

Callum Hudson-Odoi, during Nottingham Forest’s European charge, finally started to make good on the potential that had Bayern Munich prepared to break the bank when he was still a teenager at Chelsea.

Anthony Elanga earned himself a £55 million move to Newcastle after blossoming into one of the most formidable counter-attacking weapons in English football on Nuno Espirito Santo’s watch.

Even Jurgen Klopp and Pep Guardiola had no answer to Adama Traore’s rampaging in the Old Gold of Wolves, meanwhile.

Hammers News reported back in October that Nuno is keen to work with the Fulham speedster again at West Ham United. Now, as the January window looms into view, this particular story is gathering momentum.

Whether the same happens regarding those links with Tottenham Hotspur’s forgotten man, Manor Solomon, remains to be seen.

Spanish publication El Periodico de Mediterraneo, though, clearly believe that the Villarreal loanee is in line for a potential return to London. A transfer Sport1 reporter Niv Dovrat and one-time Atletico Madrid midfielder Avi Nimni are almost hoping to talk into existence.

Manor Solomon told West Ham United’ Nuno Espirito Santo is the perfect manager for him

West Ham missed out on Manor Solomon back in 2023. The Israel international’s agent confirmed that, before his client joined Tottenham from Shakhtar Donetsk, the Hammers were one of a number of clubs to express an interest of their own.

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Two years on, with Solomon an afterthought at Spurs and his game time limited in La Liga, pundits and former players back home seem to believe West Ham is an opportunity that would benefit all involved.

The Hammers would get themselves an unpredictable, highly-creative and occasionally free-scoring wideman to ease the burden on Jarrod Bowen and Lucas Paqueta. Solomon, meanwhile, would find himself a manager with a particular penchant for coaxing some consistency out of mercurial wingers.

“West Ham have a coach whose playing style – defensive football and going on outbursts – could be a great fit for Manor,” says Dovrat.

Former Atletico Madrid man Avi Nimni agrees on potential Hammers switch

Solomon is not only a searing threat on the counter-attack, though. On loan at a Leeds United side who dominated possession in the Championship last season, he scored 10 goals and assisted a further 13. Whether breaking forward at pace or tasked with unlocking a stubborn deep block, the one-time Fulham ace possesses both the explosiveness and the guile to make a difference in the final third.

“From now until January, things can change dramatically, even for the better,” adds Dovrat. “Right now, it doesn’t appear to be [going in a positive] direction.

Which position do West Ham need to strengthen the most?

“As far as he’s concerned, I’ve spoken to people close to him in recent days, he doesn’t regret going to Villarreal because in the end, in life you take chances.”

“[But] if things don’t improve drastically, it’s not impossible that he will return in January. A team like Leeds that he knows very well, like West Ham, like Burnley, who made inquiries about him in the summer.”

Avi Nimni, who had a spell in England with Derby County after leaving Atletico Madrid, goes one step further.

“I wish he would go to West Ham,” says Nimni. “This is a team that is just perfect for him.”

Solomon’s agent insists the focus is on Villarreal and La Liga

Shlomi Ben Ezra, Solomon’s representative, insists that Solomon is purely focused on making his mark at Villarreal right now despite the return of transfer speculation.

The 26-year-old is set to make his return from a recent injury, and is determined to make up for lost time.

“He will be fit after the international break,” Ben Ezra told Sport5 a few days ago. “It’s not really appropriate to say right now that he’s not doing well. He’s at a great team and I believe he’ll take his place in the line-up later in the season.

“He’s happy there. He’s joined one of the best teams in Spain, he’s happy with the decision. He’s aware of the competition and it only does him good.

Crysencio Summerville’s year-long goal drought, and praise of his recent performances in a West Ham United shirt, are not mutually exclusive.

Human brains are developed enough to realise two things at once, even if they may appear somewhat contrasting on first viewing.

Crysencio Summerville’s goal return – one in 31 West Ham United appearances, and none since October 2024 – is clearly not good enough for a winger of his talent and cost. But, at the same time, the £30 million signing from Leeds has still been one of the brightest sparks of the Nuno Espirito Santo regime, proving himself capable of being one of the load-bearing pillars in a new era at the London Stadium.

Nuno wants to make the most of Summerville’s talents. Particularly, his ‘very, very aggressive’ approach to taking on opposition full-backs. The message appears to be getting through as well.

Though his drought drags on, Summerville was excellent against Burnley last time out. A trademark mazy run through a forest of defensive legs created Callum Wilson’s opener; a real rabbit out of the hat moment when the Hammers were crying out for a stroke of individual inspiration.

But, as promising as his performances have been following Nuno’s arrival, it may do Summerville some good to have more competition for a starting spot. According to Spanish publication El Periodico de Mediterraneo, Tottenham Hotspur’s forgotten man Manor Solomon may be an option for West Ham when his Villarreal loan spell comes to an end in 2026.

Three years after West Ham first tried to sign the Israel international, could they get him at last? And, not that he needs any more motivation, could links with Solomon, Adama Traore, Tijjani Noslin and Tyrique George provide an extra little kick up the backside for a man whose influence in a Hammers shirt is yet to be reflected in the stats?

West Ham United tried to sign Tottenham’s Manor Solomon once before

Back in 2023, Tottenham signed Solomon on a free transfer from Ukrainian giants Shakhtar Donetsk.

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In conversation with Sport5, the winger’s agent confirmed that a number of Premier League clubs had hoped to sign him on the back of a promising but injury-hit loan spell with Fulham that previous season. West Ham were among them.

“In addition to Tottenham, Aston Villa, West Ham, and RB Leipzig wanted him,” Shlomi Ben Ezra said at the time.

Two-and-a-half years later, Ben Ezra would speak out again. He sees no reason why that Villarreal loan spell will be cut short in January, insisting that Solomon is focused on forcing his way into the La Liga side’s starting XI after a mixed start.

But, without an option or obligation-to-buy clause in his contract, the nomadic 26-year-old is likely to go into next summer once again on the lookout for a new home.

“He will be fit after the international break,” Ben Ezra tells Sport5. “It’s not really appropriate to say right now that he’s not doing well. He’s at a great team and I believe he’ll take his place in the line-up later in the season.

“He’s happy there. He’s joined one of the best teams in Spain, he’s happy with the decision. He’s aware of the competition and it only does him good.

“He’s concentrating on football.”

Former Leeds stars Solomon and Crysencio Summerville have a lot in common

The simple fact that Leeds picked Solomon to replace Summerville following the departure of the 2023 Championship Player of the Year highlights the similarities between both men. Two right-footed left wingers who love nothing more than leaving defenders for dead and curling shots into the far corner.

Solomon, during an outstanding loan spell at Elland Road, proved himself to be a more collaborative, team-orientated player than the more-prolific but occasionally-selfish Summerville. The former scored ten fewer goals than the latter – including the last-gasp, final day, title-winning decider at Plymouth Argyle – but assisted three more.

When Kevin de Bruyne is describing you as an ‘excellent player’, as the Manchester City icon did before a clash between Belgium and Israel last season, well, that is quite the seal of approval [Yorkshire Evening Post].

Nuno Espirito Santo knows the importance of squad depth

Nuno worked with a famously small squad at Wolves. But, at Nottingham Forest, he frequently called for new signings to provide competition and depth in key areas, also as recently as August.

West Ham do not have European football to contend with, unlike his former employers of course, though the shortage of real, quality attacking options will still be a concern.

“These boys last season achieved something fantastic. If we as a club don’t help them in terms of numbers, in terms of quality and talent, everything will go,” Nuno said shortly before his sacking at Forest.

“We have ahead of us the Premier League, Europa League, Carabao Cup and FA Cup. You know how many games this means for us. This is the respect that we have to show to our squad. Help them.”

Summerville is currently the only natural left-sided attacker in the squad, bar Luis Guilherme of course. And, though Guilherme looked extremely sharp at Rush Green again this week, Brazilian publication Trivela report that the seldom-seen winger’s representatives are already looking into the idea of a January departure.

Thus, opening up a gap for Solomon.

The man who stepped into Summerville’s shoes at Leeds, providing the rumours are true and that West Ham are planning to pick up where they left off in 2023, could soon be his rival for a starting spot in East London.

Over the summer, Mohammed Kudus became the first player to leave West Ham United for Premier League rivals Tottenham Hotspur since Scott Parker in 2011.

But after 14 years without a single player transferring between the two London neighbours for money, could two come around in the space of a few months?

Insert London bus-based pun here.

While Nuno Espirito Santo wants a striker in the building in January, alongside an athletic midfielder and ideally another central defender, reports suggesting that West Ham United may be in the market for a winger will raise a few eyebrows.

Crysencio Summerville is making progress under Nuno, while Jarrod Bowen has the right-hand side locked down.

Yet, according to Spanish publication El Periodico de Mediterraneo, West Ham have positioned themselves as a potential solution to Manor Solomon’s recent lack of game time on loan at Villarreal.

Speculation which has drawn a speedy response from Solomon’s agent, while also cooking up plenty of debate in the Israeli media.

Avi Meller tells Manor Solomon to leave Tottenham Hotspur for West Ham United

Ironically enough, Solomon was the man chosen to replace Summerville at Leeds United when West Ham signed their number seven in a £30 million deal back in 2024.

The former arguably outperformed the latter at Elland Road, too even if Summerville did leave West Yorkshire the Championship’s Player of the Year.

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With 10 goals and 12 assists in 39 second-tier games – including a stoppage-time, Sergio Aguerooooo-esque final day winner at Plymouth Argyle – Solomon is perhaps the biggest reason why Leeds are playing Premier League football today.

Speculation regarding a potential return to Elland Road has inevitably reared its head a few months on from his Home Park jubilation.

Sport5 reporter Avi Meller is keen to see what Nuno can do with Solomon at his disposal, though.

“Leeds could have brought Solomon back but gave up,” Meller says. “West Ham is [now] a more suitable stop.

“Nuno Espirito Santo is a coach who knows how to integrate players like Solomon.”

Nuno Espirito Santo wants former Wolves ace Adama Traore

The West Ham boss turned Adama Traore into a force at Wolves, while Callum Hudson-Odoi and Anthony Elanga played their best football under him at Nottingham Forest last season.

Interest in the aforementioned Traore – Hammers News reported back in October that Nuno is keen to reunite with the Fulham flyer in East London – does at least give some credence to those Solomon links. There is room, it seems, in Nuno’s roster for another wideman.

It is understood that Tottenham wanted around £20 million for the former Shakhtar Donetsk and Fulham ace over the summer. His Villarreal contract does not contain an option-to-buy clause, meaning Spurs will again be looking for a permanent solution in 2026.

Agent Shlomi Ben Ezra says staying at Villarreal is the priority

Shlomi Ben Ezra, Solomon’s agent, insists that there is little chance that his time in Spain will be cut short, though. He has only started one La Liga match so far, but the silky wideman is determined to come back stronger from a recent injury.

“He will be fit after the international break,” Ben Ezra tells Sport5. “It’s not really appropriate to say right now that he’s not doing well. He’s at a great team and I believe he’ll take his place in the line-up later in the season.

“He’s happy there. He’s joined one of the best teams in Spain, he’s happy with the decision. He’s aware of the competition and it only does him good.

The West Ham board have responded to fresh claims linking Jarrod Bowen with a shock move to bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur amid the club’s desperate situation on and off the pitch.

West Ham are set to announce record losses exceeding £100m in their December accounts.

Tottenham Hotspur meanwhile have added that same amount to their income just by qualifying for the Champions League this season.

Spurs have already embarrassed West Ham by taking advantage of the club’s delicate PSR situation by signing Mohammed Kudus for just £54.5m in the summer.

That move ended a 14-and-a-half-year unofficial transfer embargo between the Hammers and Tottenham and is one of many reasons fans are so unhappy with the club’s owners.

Report claims Spurs plan £60m Bowen bid in January

Most West Ham fans accepted Kudus had to be sold to raise funds for signings.

But for the Irons to sell a top player to Tottenham, just two years after selling Declan Rice to Arsenal, did not go down well at all in east London.

Especially as West Ham fans now have to watch Kudus shining in Thomas Frank’s side.

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Kudus is not the only West Ham player Tottenham have been linked with in recent seasons, though.

They say there is no smoke without fire — and Tottenham Hotspur are once again being linked with a fresh swoop for beloved Hammers captain and talisman Jarrod Bowen.

Now a new report has claimed Hammers skipper Bowen could be tempted by Spurs in a hugely concerning development.

According to a notorious Spanish football site, the north London club are reported to be preparing a serious attempt to sign Bowen in the January transfer window.

The latest claims suggest Tottenham will try to take advantage of West Ham’s desperate financial situation – and the fact they could be relegation certainties by January – with a bid in the region of just €60 million (£53–60 million).

The news from Spain has been repeated by several sources in England.

The new report has also claimed Bowen could be tempted by Spurs given he is settled in Essex having purchased a £3m pad with wife Dani Dyer last summer.

West Ham board respond to new claim Bowen could join Spurs

Now the West Ham board have responded to a worrying new claim Bowen could join Spurs— making the club’s stance on the matter perfectly clear.

Bowen signed a seven-year contract extension in October 2023.

Hammers News exclusively revealed earlier this month that West Ham also have the option of an eighth year on Bowen’s deal.

Tottenham have been linked on a number of occasions in the past, including the last two summer windows.

Previously, majority owner David Sullivan signalled unwavering intent to keep Bowen stating: “He is not for sale” while slapping a staggering £150 million price tag on the forward to deter suitors.

But with the club now facing extreme turbulence on and off the pitch, the new claims are understandably disturbing.

One of the biggest worries surrounding West Ham’s possible relegation concerns Bowen.

Many expected him to break Michail Antonio’s record as West Ham’s all-time leading Premier League goalscorer this season.

But West Ham’s woeful start to the season has made that look as unlikely as the club remaining in the top flight at the quarter-way stage.

Some pundits have started to suggest Bowen might need to leave West Ham in order to play at a higher level and further his England ambitions.

With the November international break looming, the pressure could be piled on the Hammers if Thomas Tuchel fails to select Bowen.

West Ham owners make Bowen Spurs sale stance clear

That could play right into Tottenham’s hands if the new report about a January bid materialises.

Especially if West Ham find themselves cut adrift by then, which is a distinct possibility given they already need back-to-back wins and results to go for them elsewhere just to climb out of the bottom three at this early stage.

Bowen has always been West Ham’s one “untouchable”.

But the feeling is that may change in light of West Ham’s predicament on the pitch and on their balance sheet.

Spurs’ interest in Kudus seemed far-fetched in the summer but they managed to get that deal done, hence legitimate concern among fans Bowen might be next.

West Ham’s public stance remains firm, though, Hammers News can exclusively reveal.

It was put to the top spokesman for the club’s owners whether there was any truth to the new claim that Bowen could be sold to Tottenham in the January transfer window.

And the response was short, sharp and very sweet for West Ham fans.

“Total rubbish,” the top spokesman for West Ham’s board told Hammers News when pressed on the claims Bowen could join Spurs in January.

It doesn’t get any clearer than that for the Hammers or Tottenham.

Whether Tottenham still chance their arm when the window rolls around remains to be seen.

Especially as West Ham could be tip-toeing financial constraints tied to the Premier League’s PSR (Profitability and Sustainability Rules) by then.

But the lure of a major cash injection by selling Bowen will not force their hand according to the club’s hierarchy.

Sir Alex Ferguson famously quipped that dealing with ex-Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy was more painful than his hip replacement. Sam Allardyce, the former West Ham United manager, will know better than most what he meant by that.

Because while Ferguson was dragged into torturous negotiations over the deal which brought Dimitar Berbatov to Old Trafford – Daniel Levy forced Manchester United to part with a Premier League record fee of £30.75 million on deadline day 2009 – the man who spent nearly a quarter of a century at the helm of Tottenham Hotspur made plenty of other enemies in boardrooms up and down the land.

Take David Sullivan, for instance.

When it came to discussions regarding the potential sale of Scott Parker from West Ham United to their bitter rivals, Sullivan and Levy butted heads like two territorial stags bashing their antlers together.

That it took 14 years for another player to leave East London for the North – Mohammed Kudus followed in Parker’s footsteps this summer – speaks to what Allardyce described as a ‘fractious’ relationship between both boardrooms.

Sam Allardyce recalls West Ham United’s negotiations with Tottenham over Scott Parker

Ironically enough, ‘Big’ Sam Allardyce sold Scott Parker to West Ham from Newcastle United in the first place. They would be reunited, albeit very briefly, once Allardyce was parachuted in at Upton Park following their relegation under Avram Grant in 2011.

But if Levy thought he could convince West Ham to sell the reigning FWA Footballer of the Year on the cheap, Sullivan had other ideas.

“[Levy] rang me a couple of times when I was at West Ham, because he thought he could do a deal with me,” Allardyce says, speaking on the latest edition of the No Tippy Tappy Football podcast. “And you know the fractions between David and Daniel. Fractious, to say the least.

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“Harry [Redknapp, Spurs’ manager at the time] wanted Scott Parker.

“I said, ‘it’s simple, Harry. Absolutely simple. David said it’s £6 million, take it or leave it’. [Redknapp replied], ‘Well Sam, at his age, Daniel won’t go that far because he’s old’. I said, ‘Harry, it’s £6 million. That’s it! £6 million and he’s yours’.

“I sold him from Newcastle to West Ham for £6 million, he’s an England international, it’s £6 million! It’s not often a chairman let’s me say £6 million, but David Sullivan has!

“So, in the end, Daniel rang me! And I said, ‘it’s £6 million. We need to get rid of him but you’ll have to speak to David, and David wont budge. Probably if I told David that you’d spoken to me, he’d have put the price up to £8 million!’.”

In the end, West Ham got the sort of fee they were looking for. Parker would go on to enjoy two impressive years at Tottenham before winding down his career at another London-based outfit in Fulham.

He and the aforementioned Kudus are the only players to swap claret and blue for the white of Spurs since Michael Carrick back in 2004.

Speaking of a certain £54.5 million Ghanaian winger, Kudus opened up on his West Ham criticism recently. His second and final season at the Hammers was dominated by debates over his attitude, not to mention his less-than-stellar returns in the final third.

Even Spurs boss Thomas Frank was not too impressed by a miserly 2024/25 tally of five goals and three Premier League assists.

“Being talked about almost every day on the TV, it’s hard to deal with,” Kudus told Sports Illustrated.

“From people who don’t even know you, literally, they just watch you for maybe 90 minutes and then there’s a judgement on sometimes who you are or what you are and stuff like that, which I personally I don’t think is fair.

“I think the best people can really talk about you are the people that spend the most time with you almost every single day, you know.

“But, that’s part of the work. And we as athletes, of course, we have to deal with that. That’s why I say don’t be famous or something like that, but you can still use it to your best ability and, and have an impact on other people’s lives.”

Frank Lampard’s infamous move from West Ham United to Chelsea will forever rankle with some in claret and blue, but that he started his Premier League career at Upton Park owed much to his boyhood love of the East London giants.

And, of course, the Upton Park legacy carved out by his legendary father.

Playing over 500 games in two decades as a West Ham United player, Frank Lampard Sr returned to his old stomping ground as an assistant to manager, and brother-in-law, Harry Redknapp between 1994 and 2001.

Lampard Sr had the luxury of watching his son rise through the ranks at Rush Green, then, from a front-row seat. And who knows? Perhaps junior could take a leaf out of his father’s book, at some point down the line.

Hammers News reported, shortly before Nuno Espirito Santo replaced Graham Potter at the London Stadium, that sporting director Mark Noble was an admirer of Frank Lampard, the manager. And, clearly, Lampard has forgiven his West Ham critics, even if that feeling may not be reciprocated by some who remember his controversial departure to rivals Chelsea a quarter of a century ago.

Speaking on Lifejacket’s The Boot Room podcast, the Champions League and Premier League winner reflects on the decisions which took him to Upton Park in the first place, rejecting London neighbours Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal along the way.

Frank Lampard explains why he rejected Arsenal and Tottenham for West Ham United

While Sir Alex Ferguson was ‘desperate’ to sign Joe Cole for Manchester United before his breakout in claret and blue, Lampard had spells in the respective academies of two more Premier League powerhouses.

“I got scouted by Tottenham. I ended up going there once a week,” Lampard says. “They had an amazing coach called Jonny Martin, and it felt so futuristic! It was step-overs, technique, all these things.

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“Then Arsenal came in for me. I trained there one night. And then West Ham were the last to come in at that time. So I would do probably three nights a week training at these clubs, which was great for me.

“[Training at multiple clubs] doesn’t happen now. When you get signed, you have to commit to a club at a very young age. So my dad, probably being wise to it, was like, ‘Do them all, son. Get a bit of Arsenal, get a bit of Tottenham, West Ham, take your time to make your decision’.”

That decision, despite the impressive facilities on offer elsewhere, was a ‘pretty easy’ one at the time.

“When I left school after my GCSEs, I had offers from all three,” Lampard Jr remembers. “It was pretty easy for me to choose West Ham because it had been my club growing up.

“My dad had played for them. I was a West Ham fan as a kid.”

Lampard loved his time alongside Julian Dicks at Upton Park

While many youngsters would shy away from a dressing room full of battle-scarred pros and West Ham warriors, a teenage Frank Lampard relished being in Julian Dicks’ shadow, even if that meant scraping every last morsel of mud off the legendary captain’s boots.

“[Dicks] used to hammer you! He used to absolutely give it to you!” Lampard laughs.

“He used to wear blades. They were like the first blades as we know them now, they were pretty new. It was a bit out there, and ‘Dixie’ wore blades. Mud would get stuck right in the blades and he would just throw them at you! ‘Clean them again’.

“That sounds bullish, but it was Dixie.

“I loved him and respected him as a West Ham fan. This bloke was like my king at the time! He would throw [the boots] at you and you would clean them again. Come Christmas, it was bonus time and they would give you a little tip at the end of the year. Dixie was really generous, so it was worth it.

“He was great with me as well. It was part of the growing up period and the respect. [I thought], ‘I want to be Julian Dicks or anything like him’. So, cleaning his boots, no problem. When I look back, magical moments, getting to touch Dixie’s boots when I was an academy player.”

Dicks, though, was a lot more than his ‘hardman’ persona.

“Unreal. A really good footballer. He was much better than [people think],” Lampard adds. “He was a tough man and obviously got his foot in, but he could play.

“He used to have that great [move] as a left-back where he would go to play it down the line and then just chop inside and take it into the middle of the pitch.”

David Sullivan could finally get the chance to right one of his biggest transfer regrets with a second chance at signing a Tottenham Hotspur star.

The star in question slipped through his fingers previously with Spurs blowing West Ham out of the water leaving him “gutted”.

Especially after the player’s family had held positive talks over a move to east London after a game in which he was involved.

One look at how West Ham and Tottenham Hotspur have used winning their first major trophies for decades sums up the gulf between the bitter rivals.

The Hammers have regressed to the brink of being relegation certainties in the couple of years since their Europa Conference League triumph.

Spurs show West Ham how to use trophy as springboard not trapdoor

Spurs meanwhile, have instantly used their Europa League success to drastically improve their manager, squad and standing.

West Ham are stuck in the bottom three a quarter of the way through the new season while Champions League Tottenham Hotspur are in the top three.

To rub salt in the wound, the Hammers allowed their finances to deteriorate to such a degree they were forced to sell Mohammed Kudus to Tottenham for just £54.5m in the summer.

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Kudus has been one of the most impressive players in the Premier League this season while West Ham have been utterly abysmal.

A big problem, identified after just one game at the Hammers helm for ex Spurs boss Nuno Espirito Santo, is the lack of a competent striker.

Niclas Fullkrug is injured yet again but the ageing, immobile German has proved beyond any doubt he’s not up to it in the Premier League anyway.

Nuno doesn’t fancy Callum Wilson and West Ham’s only other recognised forward is unproven young Northern Irishman Callum Marshall.

Nuno has already told West Ham’s board he wants a striker in January.

That will clearly be a necessity if the Irons are to have any chance of Premier League survival.

Now David Sullivan could be handed a second chance to sign a Spurs star who left him ‘gutted’ after his family’s West Ham talks.

Sullivan’s second chance to sign Spurs star who left him ‘gutted’

When Tottenham signed striker Dominic Solanke for £65m last summer, West Ham’s majority owner made a major admission about the deal.

The fee Tottenham spent on Solanke made headlines and raised eyebrows.

Heading into that window, Solanke was one of West Ham’s top targets along with Jhon Duran.

In the end Tim Steidten opted to stretch West Ham’s budget by going for £27m Fullkrug instead.

West Ham had held talks with Solanke’s family – who act as his agents – over a summer move to the London Stadium after the Hammers played Bournemouth.

The Irons were keen to show Solanke how serious they were about building their new-look team around him.

But Spurs hijacked West Ham’s move for Solanke.

And Sullivan said the Hammers simply couldn’t compete with Tottenham for Solanke in a brutally honest admission.

“We were interested,” the senior London Stadium contact told Hammers News last year.

“David Sullivan would have loved Solanke.

“We just didn’t have £65m to spend on a single player.”

Now the Hammers might be able to get Solanke after all.

BBC Sport has repeated rumours that Tottenham boss Thomas Frank is not impressed with Solanke and could look to sell the England striker in January.

Could Solanke solve West Ham’s biggest problem after Frank decision?

The 28-year-old is reportedly not part of Frank’s plans and could be moved on after just 18 months in north London.

Given Sullivan’s admiration of the player, this could be a deal which works for all parties.

Especially if Spurs are open to an initial loan with option or obligation to buy should West Ham stay up.

Solanke scored 16 goals in 45 games for Tottenham in his debut season but has played just three games so far this term.

West Ham are in desperate need of a strong, mobile striker leading their line.

Having Solanke with Crysencio Summerville and Jarrod Bowen either side would transform the Hammers overnight.

And at 28, Solanke should still have some of his best years ahead of him.

Lines of communication are clearly open between West Ham and Spurs after the Kudus deal.

That in itself may help grease the wheels because Spurs still owe the Hammers £36m for the Ghanaian after agreeing to pay the £54.5m fee in three instalments.

Former Tottenham Hotspur, Portsmouth and Wolves midfielder Jamie O’Hara visited the London Stadium for a charity match recently, and he saw little difference between that and West Ham United vs Brentford on Monday night.

Jordan Henderson, the 35-year-old veteran at the heart of Keith Andrews’ engine room, could hardly have had a more straightforward evening. Controlling proceedings with a cigar in his mouth and a cup of tea in his hand.

On a day when Nuno Espirito Santo bizarely left Freddie Potts out in favour of Andy Irving and Guido Rodriguez, while leaving Tomas Soucek exposed in what appeared at times to be a one-man midfield, visitors Brentford produced 17 shots to West Ham United’s seven.

They also dominated 57 per cent of the possession, and produced 137 more passes.

Nuno brought off Mateus Fernandes at half-time, too. Thus, making life even harder for an ageing, swamped Soucek.

O’Hara and talkSPORT co-host Jason Cundy could not help but feel some sympathy for the 30-year-old Czech international during a dreadful team performance in which only Crysencio Summerville looked likely to make something happen.

Crysencio Summerville a positive as Jamie O’Hara and Jason Cundy hit out at West Ham United

Following his second defeat in three matches since replacing Graham Potter, Nuno accepted that it is the job of the coaching staff and the players to get an unhappy fanbase back onside.

Performances like this will not help in that regard.

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“I tell you what, 99 per cent of fans will follow a player who will run through a brick wall for you,” says O’Hara. “You don’t have to be the best player in the world. You don’t even have to be that talented!

“If you are going to run around and commit, wear your heart on your sleeve, I tell you what, the fans will come with you.

“Give me a player who does that? Summerville, he carries the ball well, I will give him that. But where is the player who wants to drag the team up?”

“I mean, I can’t see right now how West Ham stay up if that is what continues to happen,” agrees Cundy, who also highlights the former Leeds winger as a rare plus point in a miserable display. “I cannot see how West Ham can get out of that.

“There was absolutely nothing. Sometimes, you look and you it’s not happening for you, [but] there might be a couple of little passages of play. [Against Brentford, there was] nothing.

“Summerville was the only one who carried the ball for any distance. They don’t look like they want to be there, the players. It is as bad as you can possibly get. I can’t think right now how much worse it could get.”

Tomas Soucek was left exposed by Nuno Espirito Santo

Cundy, who also played Premier League football for Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur, saw Nuno’s midfield set-up backfire as Henderson was given the run of things in Brentford blue.

Though how much of a difference the aforementioned Potts would have made – albeit far younger, quicker and energetic than the likes of Soucek, Irving and Rodriguez – is anyone’s guess. Cundy and O’Hara feel that it may be a tactical issue, as well as a personnel problem.

“The two in midfield [for Brentford], those two could not believe how much time they had,” Cundy adds. “No one is getting up close and personal. No one. Nuno has got to get up the pitch. He can’t play like that in every game.

“He’s gone with Soucek; vastly experienced. [But] West Ham’s problem all season has been that area. They can’t get close enough because they are sat so deep. You have got to come another 10, 15 yards up the pitch.

“I know you want to defend in a low block but that was too deep.”

O’Hara says this is West Ham’s worst Premier League side

O’Hara, meanwhile, feels this is a West Ham team that would struggle to get a result up against the Avram Grant-led side which finished rock bottom in 2011.

“This has got to be probably the worst West Ham side I’ve seen in the Premier League,” O’Hara says.

“I’ve played in charity games at West Ham, honestly, I could have played tonight,” You watch my highlights from the charity game when I played there about three months ago, that was Jordan Henderson.

“Literally, no one’s near him. He can do what he wants. Any player can just sit there and string a ball about and look good, but there’s no one tackling you.

“I couldn’t believe what I was watching.”

The truth has emerged about Ivan Toney amid fresh links with a potential move back to the Premier League with West Ham and Spurs in January.

With speculation already ramping up ahead of the January transfer window, new information has surfaced from the player’s camp.

West Ham and bitter rivals Tottenham Hotspur are both in the market for a new striker in the winter window.

The Hammers massively dropped the ball by failing to sign a pacy, powerful forward in the summer with ageing, injury-prone free agent Callum Wilson the only arrival.

Tottenham spent well in the summer – including £54.5m on Mohammed Kudus from West Ham – but did not sign an out-and-out centre forward.

Hammers and Spurs resume battle for Toney

That has meant Mathys Tel and Richarlison sharing the striker role under Thomas Frank with mixed results.

Although Spurs have had a good start, many feel it could have been even better had they invested in a forward.

West Ham certainly have not made a good start.

While Tottenham sit in the top three of the fledgling Premier League table, the Hammers find themselves in the bottom three.

MORE WEST HAM STORIES

Graham Potter has paid the price for that with his job, and now it is up to former Tottenham boss Nuno Espirito Santo to try and turn things around in east London.

Nuno has already warned West Ham’s board what he expects in January.

It took the Portuguese just one game to identify his top priority for the January window, that being a striker.

That need has become even more acute since, with the Hammers’ starting forward Niclas Fullkrug picked up yet another injury which is expected to keep the German out for some time.

As a result of their situations, both West Ham and Spurs have been linked with signing a new forward in January.

That has, rather inevitably, set the London rivals on a collision course over one target.

Not for the first time either.

The Hammers and Spurs were battling it out for Ivan Toney behind the scenes in the summer last year.

At one stage, it was said to be a straight shootout between West Ham and Tottenham for Toney’s signature.

In the end, though, Toney secured a lucrative move to Saudi with Al-Ahli, where he is said to earn £600k per week, tax free.

Toney has scored 38 goals in 54 appearances in Saudi since the start of last season.

He had also managed to retain his England place until this season, where he has fallen out of contention for Thomas Tuchel’s Three Lions squad.

With a World Cup looming large at the end of the season, Toney is said to be desperate to make the plane.

It has been claimed that Tuchel has told Toney a return to the Premier League would boost his chances.

And that, it has been extensively reported this week, could be great news for West Ham or Spurs with both clubs said to be back in for the 29-year-old.

Now the Toney truth emerges for West Ham and Spurs after January move links.

The likes of talkSPORT and teamTALK have claimed West Ham and Tottenham are both hot on Toney’s trail ahead of the January window with a loan deal in the offing for the rest of the season.

But Hammers News can reveal the truth behind the Toney claims from a source close to the player’s camp.

And the top transfer source has rubbished any chance of West Ham or Spurs signing Toney in January.

Or any club for that matter.

Man United have also been linked as well as the Irons and Tottenham.

But Hammers News has been exclusively told that there is no truth to any suggestion Toney is open to a Premier League return to save his World Cup hopes.

Toney is ‘loving life in Saudi’ and as things stand those close to him cannot see him ever returning to play in England let alone in January.

“He loves it there, there’s no truth in the rumours about Man United and West Ham,” the top transfer source told Hammers News.

“No truth to the Tottenham rumour either.”

There is also the issue of tax.

If Toney was loaned back to the Premier League at West Ham or Spurs, even though he would still be contracted to his Saudi club, he would spend too many days in the UK and there would be a big tax problem.

Workarounds could be found, like when Jordan Henderson left Al Ettifaq for Ajax in 2024, whereby the player defers their wages and then when they return to Saudi Arabia get a bigger salary to make up the difference.

But a return to the UK, especially within the first two years, is a lot more difficult for Toney than a move elsewhere in Europe.

That is all a moot point, though, because Toney’s camp insist he is happy in Saudi and won’t be going anywhere anytime soon.

So West Ham and Spurs will have to look somewhere else for a striker solution.

Mohammed Kudus has opened up properly for the first time since leaving West Ham for Spurs — and he’s had his say on the criticism he faced during his final season in east London.

The Ghanaian star has broken his silence on claims about his form and attitude, and his response makes his feelings perfectly clear.

You can’t push to leave West Ham for Tottenham Hotspur and expect no kickback.

Especially when you are the first player to move between the Hammers and bitter rivals Spurs for 14-and-a-half years.

Mohammed Kudus was given the treatment when he returned to the London Stadium with Tottenham last month.

Although the jeers started to echo around the ground as West Ham fans left en masse at 3-0 down.

From Lopetegui bust-ups to ‘not trying’ – Kudus’ second season at West Ham

Deep down most Hammers fans blame their under-fire owners for the fact Kudus joined Tottenham.

After selling Declan Rice for £105m, playing three consecutive seasons in Europe and winning a first major trophy in 43 years, West Ham should never have been in a position where they had to sell one of their best players.

MORE WEST HAM STORIES

And while many have tried to deny it since his departure to Tottenham, Kudus was one of West Ham’s best players.

The big fear was always that the Ghanaian would rediscover the scintillating form of his debut season with the Hammers when linking up with Thomas Frank at Tottenham.

That nightmare is already becoming a reality.

Kudus has more assists than any other player in the Premier League and tops the charts for dribbles, duels and ball recoveries.

A similar story to his first season with West Ham, where Kudus had more successful dribbles than any player in Europe’s top five leagues and won the ball back for his team more than any other player in the top flight bar Newcastle midfielder Bruno Guimaraes.

Not to mention the 20 goals and assists he contributed.

After that season, Kudus’ £85m release clause looked too cheap.

Fast forward a year, though, and West Ham were pleading PSR poverty and that Spurs were the only show in town who were willing to pay £54.5m for Kudus.

His value dropped significantly after a poor second season and a clear intention to leave.

Now Spurs star Kudus has broken his silence on criticism of his form and attitude at West Ham.

Spurs star Kudus breaks silence on West Ham criticism

Kudus started off last season at West Ham by having a major bust-up with new manager Julen Lopetegui.

The Spaniard singled the attacker out in the changing room at half-time of West Ham’s match at Brentford accusing him of playing for himself and not the team.

Kudus reportedly flipped and had to be pulled back from Lopetegui, who substituted him.

The former Ajax winger could be seen kicking a seat as he re-emerged to watch the second half.

From that moment on, Kudus simply looked like he did not want to be at West Ham. Reports since suggest he had actually wanted to leave in the summer before.

Then came his head loss at Spurs where he floored three of his new teammates in a rage and was banned for five games.

Lopetegui was eventually replaced by Graham Potter but he could not get a tune out of Kudus either.

Fans started questioning his attitude, application and desire as his work-rate noticeably dropped off.

So by the time he joined West Ham’s London rivals and declared he ‘only wanted Spurs’, Kudus’ bridges were well and truly burnt.

Now, though, the player has opened up about the criticism he faced.

Speaking to Sports Illustrated Kudus said it was a gut feeling to join West Ham.

And he says when he scored his first goal for the Hammers against Newcastle he felt ‘this is it’.

Kudus says he could have left after the first season but wanted to stay and ‘smash the league’.

Kudus: I could have left West Ham after first season

So the Black Stars ace says the criticism of his attitude and effort in his second season don’t add up. And he thinks it comes from people who watch him for 90 minutes and don’t know anything about him.

“Being talked about almost every day on the TV, it’s hard to deal with,” Kudus said.

“From people who don’t even know you, literally, they just watch you for maybe 90 minutes and then there’s a judgement on sometimes who you are or what you are and stuff like that, which I personally I don’t think is fair.

“I think the best people can really talk about you are the people that spend the most time with you almost every single day, you know.

“But, that’s part of the work. And we as athletes, of course, we have to deal with that. That’s why I say don’t be famous or something like that, but you can still use it to your best ability and, and have an impact on other people’s lives.”

Kudus is certainly having an impact on the lives of Spurs fans right now.

His form has helped Frank’s side up to third in the fledgling table while West Ham sit in the bottom two a fifth of the way through the season.

Wayne Rooney already has David Sullivan sick with regret over West Ham selling Kudus to Spurs.

The decision to sell was not as controversial as the destination.

Now the Hammers must hope their destination is not the Championship without him.